Personally, I delete all the files and folders from the old version before upgrading to the newest. So that would include the files and folders you've identified. Do make sure you have a backup of ALL files and your database BEFORE you start the upgrade process just in case something goes amiss. In fact, one way to ensure troubles is to forget to backup your stuff...

Oh and welcome to the forums! If you get stuck upgrading or whatever come on back and we'll hook you up.

Looks like the install went smoothly. I deleted all files (after backing up the entire blog folder and database) and followed the procedure and had no issues.

Thanks!
Jeff

Just adding my question here, because I haven't yet been able to find an answer (just started looking, however).

I have 1.8.1-RC and want to upgrade - but haven't the faintest idea where to start. I have four blogs that (of course) I am paranoid about losing.

Do the themes migrate? Does everything else migrate? I get nervous when reading about deleting old files and whatnot (although I do have backups of everything).

I will keep looking for info, but if someone could direct me to the "help me upgrade" section I would appreciate it!

Okay, I am working on backing up all files...and I see that themes don't migrate. :(

Although I hope otherwise, I have a feeling this is going to be troubling...

Well I started by reading the Docs page, http://manual.b2evolution.net/Main_Page which you probably already did.

If you follow the sub-link in the Installation/Upgrade section, Upgrade From an Older Version (http://manual.b2evolution.net/Upgrade_from_an_older_version) then I see at the top of the page that version 1.8.1 and higher should be completely compatible with newer versions although of course there's never any guarantee I guess. In my case I was going from 1.6.x to 2.4 so yours may go even smoother than mine did.

Importing your old settings is found at the bottom of that page under the Bring back your previous customizations section. I didn't use WinMerge like they suggest but in my case I figured it was easier to redo the settings manually than to over-complicate things since I hadn't fully set up my blog yet.

I believe that if you have backup copies then you should have absolutely no problems if something fails utterly and you want to revert to the old version while you get things sorted out. I don't believe the database gets altered/corrupted by switching from one version to the other so as long as your old config files are the same you should be good.

The only issues I had were related to my own errors. 1) I failed to upload all the new files to the original directory somehow which made certain features fail to work in the new version. 2) I based my new skin2.0 templates off of skins in the /skins/ directory that were made for older versions - I think the idea was to follow the Custom or maybe the Basic skin as a starting point and I used the EvoCamp and AsEvo skins and didn't really know what I was doing as it was.

All in all though, it wasn't terribly difficult to upgrade.

Jeff

epoclaen wrote:

Well I started by reading the Docs page, http://manual.b2evolution.net/Main_Page which you probably already did.

If you follow the sub-link in the Installation/Upgrade section, Upgrade From an Older Version (http://manual.b2evolution.net/Upgrade_from_an_older_version) then I see at the top of the page that version 1.8.1 and higher should be completely compatible with newer versions although of course there's never any guarantee I guess. In my case I was going from 1.6.x to 2.4 so yours may go even smoother than mine did.

Importing your old settings is found at the bottom of that page under the Bring back your previous customizations section. I didn't use WinMerge like they suggest but in my case I figured it was easier to redo the settings manually than to over-complicate things since I hadn't fully set up my blog yet.

I believe that if you have backup copies then you should have absolutely no problems if something fails utterly and you want to revert to the old version while you get things sorted out. I don't believe the database gets altered/corrupted by switching from one version to the other so as long as your old config files are the same you should be good.

The only issues I had were related to my own errors. 1) I failed to upload all the new files to the original directory somehow which made certain features fail to work in the new version. 2) I based my new skin2.0 templates off of skins in the /skins/ directory that were made for older versions - I think the idea was to follow the Custom or maybe the Basic skin as a starting point and I used the EvoCamp and AsEvo skins and didn't really know what I was doing as it was.

All in all though, it wasn't terribly difficult to upgrade.

Jeff

Thanks for the input...

RE: the red text... Hmmm, I don't recall seeing that in my reading so far (but I haven't specifically clicked on that link). From what I remember reading, there is a big change (database wise?) when you jump from 1.8.1 to the current version...???

I guess I am mostly worried about my customizations, because I customized A LOT of things on the skins (different font sizes, colors, etc.) plus added a lot to the sidebars. Maybe the new skins will be good enough (for me) that I won't need to do that... here's hoping!

1) backup your database first
2) backup your database first
3) backup your database first
4) backup your database first
5) backup your database first

Seriously, backup your database before upgrading, shit always happens when you don't have a backup ;)

¥

Database is being backed up as I speak. I can actually manually request a database backup via the control panel on my website (host).

I'd trust my life to ¥åßßå's responses (no pressure, ¥åßßå ;) ) and yeah, I also backed up my database before upgrading. Of course the ultimate safety net would be to test the upgrade on a test-server or test-directory on the same server but not all of us have that luxury. I was moving my site to a new domain so I was free to experiment quite a bit.

What I really recall was being just as worried about the templates not working but being pleasantly relieved when everything seemed to go smoothly. Note though that I later ran into the minor issues that I mentioned previously but were resolved in the http://forums.b2evolution.net/viewtopic.php?t=15034 (with help from ¥åßßå) and http://forums.b2evolution.net/viewtopic.php?t=15102 (thanks to Afwas) threads. The help I've gotten from the forums has been excellent.

The reason I added the:

...although of course there's never any guarantee I guess

part after that red text was that I've seen the wiki give info that appears to be outdated so I'm hesitant to take it as gospel.

I know I reviewed (and I'm betting you've also read) the http://manual.b2evolution.net/Upgrade_from_1.10.x_to_2.0.x page on updating templates but if you haven't then be sure to refer to that as a valuable resource.

Thank you all, I am bookmarking to read everything before starting.

And I just realized I have a domain I can test it on - I never thought of that. Excellent!

Okay, everything was going well...but now I'm stuck. I ran the automated install/upgrade, I reinstalled my _basic_conf.php file, and ended up with this message:

Upgrading data in existing b2evolution database...
Checking DB schema version... 9700 : OK.
Resetting b2evolution.net polling times... OK.
Altering table «evo_items__prerendering»...
• Changed type of evo_items__prerendering.itpr_datemodified from timestamp(14) to itpr_datemodified TIMESTAMP NOT NULL

Upgrade completed successfully!

Now you can log in with your usual b2evolution username and password.

So then I tried to login, and I got this instead of the login screen:

Warning: require_once() [function.require-once]: Unable to access /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/chicago/_adminUI.class.php in /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson.com/public_html/blogs/admin.php on line 163

Warning: require_once(/home/jhudson2/domains/hudson.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/chicago/_adminUI.class.php) [function.require-once]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson.com/public_html/blogs/admin.php on line 163

Fatal error: require_once() [function.require]: Failed opening required '/home/jhudson2/domains/hudson.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/chicago/_adminUI.class.php' (include_path='.:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson.com/public_html/blogs/admin.php on line 163

I opened the _adminUI.class.php file but nothing jumped out at me as something I needed to fix (although I didn't go through it with a fine tooth comb) and of course line 163 depends on how wide your window is, LOL.

I also uploaded everything exactly as I was supposed to - into the same original directory I had (so all the permissions, etc. were kept the same) so I should think all the directory structures are the same as well.

I did choose to install the sample skins and blogs (even though I am not a beginner) just because I like having reference points, and it's been a LONG time since I installed this software.

I did move my original media folder and haven't moved it back yet, but that error message doesn't look like that's the problem (and even so, the new media folders that I uploaded are there).

Any ideas? I won't be able to work on it until I get home tonight, but I am hoping this is an easy fix.

"hudson2001" wrote:

Okay, everything was going well...but now I'm stuck. I ran the automated install/upgrade, I reinstalled my _basic_conf.php file, and ended up with this message:

Upgrading data in existing b2evolution database...
Checking DB schema version... 9700 : OK.
Resetting b2evolution.net polling times... OK.
Altering table «evo_items__prerendering»...
• Changed type of evo_items__prerendering.itpr_datemodified from timestamp(14) to itpr_datemodified TIMESTAMP NOT NULL

Upgrade completed successfully!

Now you can log in with your usual b2evolution username and password.

So then I tried to login, and I got this instead of the login screen:

Warning: require_once() [function.require-once]: Unable to access /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/chicago/_adminUI.class.php in /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson.com/public_html/blogs/admin.php on line 163

Warning: require_once(/home/jhudson2/domains/hudson.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/chicago/_adminUI.class.php) [function.require-once]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson.com/public_html/blogs/admin.php on line 163

Fatal error: require_once() [function.require]: Failed opening required '/home/jhudson2/domains/hudson.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/chicago/_adminUI.class.php' (include_path='.:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson.com/public_html/blogs/admin.php on line 163

This one sounds like [url=http://forums.b2evolution.net//viewtopic.php?p=73532#73532]that one[/url].. which may be caused by admin skin..

moreover i recall once getting this error, when i was installing b2evo -that i do many times in local machine or servers time to time to try sth out- and dont get this as a misleading advice or a noob advise but i guess i was ended up deleting those lines to get rid of errors :)

I checked your referenced thread...

I reinstalled the /skins_adm folder and still get the error. How do I go about deleting that skin, or calling another skin? The person in the other thread could still login (to change skins) - I can't even do that.

From that thread, they said the pointed line is this:

require_once $adminskins_path.$admin_skin.'/_adminUI.class.php';

but I haven't the foggiest what to do with it. Do I just delete it?

Okay, I opened the /blogs/admin.php file and replaced all instances of 'chicago' with 'evo' and now my blog page loads! YAY! And it seems all my posts are there!!! YAY!

Now I just have to reinstall my page hacks (i.e. sidebar pics, etc.) and install new themes, because the basic themes make the blog look nasty! :)

WHOOPS.

I spoke too soon. :(

I went to my blogs link instead of the login page. My blog page appears just fine, but I still can't access the login page - still get the same basic error although it has changed a bit:

Warning: require_once() [function.require-once]: Unable to access /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/chicago/_adminUI.class.php in /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson.com/public_html/blogs/admin.php on line 163

Warning: require_once(/home/jhudson2/domains/hudson.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/chicago/_adminUI.class.php) [function.require-once]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson.com/public_html/blogs/admin.php on line 163

Fatal error: require_once() [function.require]: Failed opening required '/home/jhudson2/domains/hudson.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/chicago/_adminUI.class.php' (include_path='.:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson.com/public_html/blogs/admin.php on line 163

Well...let me expand. The old login page is what I am trying to reach:
http://www.hudson2001.com/blogs/admin.php - and that is when I get the error.

BUT if I just go to direct to my blogs page, there are admin functions on the top (I missed them at first). I can make changes to my user profile (like changing IM names) using the dropdown admin list, but if I try to go to the actual Admin function, THAT is when I get the error.

Hmmm. If I look at my actual directory structure, it doesn't appear that the jhudson2 is in there. Like, when I login via FTP, my structure is:

/domains/hudson2001.com/public_html

So I am not sure where this jhudson2 is coming from. I mean, that's my domain login ID - but I didn't change anything (directory structure) when I uploaded the new version... so is it a glitch in the b2evo docs, or something on my end?

Okay, I give up. I thought maybe it had something to do with upper and lowercase naming, because in the Chicagto skin it was adminUI and the Evo skin it's adminui - so I changed all the instances of UI I could find, changed chicago instances to evo...and I still get errors. :(

Then I thought maybe my old _basic_config.php file was messed up, but I see nothing in there (my base URL is still correct).

I am thinking it has to do with that whole jhudson2 in the directory structure, but I am clueless how to fix it...or see if it's the actual problem.

I keep thinking if I stare at the error long enough, something will CLICK. But so far, it hasn't. :(

This is the new error list I am looking at (since I deleted the Chicago skin - although I am not sure why it's showing legacy instead of evo):

Warning: require_once() [function.require-once]: Unable to access /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson2001.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/legacy/../_adminUI_general.class.php in /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson2001.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/legacy/_adminui.class.php on line 33

Warning: require_once(/home/jhudson2/domains/hudson2001.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/legacy/../_adminUI_general.class.php) [function.require-once]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson2001.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/legacy/_adminui.class.php on line 33

Fatal error: require_once() [function.require]: Failed opening required '/home/jhudson2/domains/hudson2001.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/legacy/../_adminUI_general.class.php' (include_path='.:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson2001.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/legacy/_adminui.class.php on line 33

Anyone? :(

maybe you can make another installation - a duplicate one- with d.loading&uploading all files and using the current exported sql, so that everything will be exactly the same of your website, but fiddling with it wont hurt.. so that you can give out your duplicate install's password to someone interested to take a look..sth can be worked out

I kinda understand what you're saying, but am clueless when you say "using the current exported sql" ??? It takes SO long to upload all the b2evo folders so hate to upload it all again to another site?!?

I am uploading the install folders again, and will make sure the necessary files have the right persmissions (just to double check) and will see what happens. Hopefully a stroke of luck.

Bumping a post that's less than 4 hours old isn't cool :|

It looks like you have a corrupt download, painful as it may seem you'd be best to grab a fresh copy of the zip and upload the whole if /inc/ and /skins_admn/

¥

¥åßßå wrote:

Bumping a post that's less than 4 hours old isn't cool :|

It looks like you have a corrupt download, painful as it may seem you'd be best to grab a fresh copy of the zip and upload the whole if /inc/ and /skins_admn/

¥

Four hours? Sorry. It's actually 10 hours (since I started posting at 8am - with updates all day...). ;)

I will try a new download, thanks.

Cool, now I get 10 hours sleep :D

¥

Probably, with the time it takes to upload it all, LOL!

See you tomorrow! :)

:P

Let me know if it doesn't work ;) ..... in 10 hours :|

¥

hudson2001 wrote:

I kinda understand what you're saying, but am clueless when you say "using the current exported sql" ??? It takes SO long to upload all the b2evo folders so hate to upload it all again to another site?!?

I am uploading the install folders again, and will make sure the necessary files have the right persmissions (just to double check) and will see what happens. Hopefully a stroke of luck.

in case you dont have 1 gb or sth files, it shouldnt take that long, i think you should download and upload all your files, and uhhm.. by saying "using the current exported sql" i meant, exporting your current sql, and importing it in ur panel to another renamed database .. you will have to make some little changes but it is not that hard..

i dont know how much members or what types of posts you have, but just an idea, if you dont have much private posts and if you dont have much users with confidential information you can even give out the password here.. just a suggestion if all these conditions are true..so that anyone eager to help might have a look at it..

but of course asking for help from an experienced kind volunteer moderator is better idea.. sorry bout the grammer typos, mere expositon and everything.. good luck

Well, it took less than 10 hours. :p Hubby must not have been downloading anything else tonight...

I uploaded everything again, overwriting everything. I reimported the _basic_conf.php file from my OLD blog settings. I ran the install and got the okay on everything:

Upgrading data in existing b2evolution database...

Checking DB schema version... 9700 : OK.
Resetting b2evolution.net polling times... OK.
Altering table «evo_items__prerendering»...

* Changed type of evo_items__prerendering.itpr_datemodified from timestamp(14) to itpr_datemodified TIMESTAMP NOT NULL

Upgrade completed successfully!

Now you can log in with your usual b2evolution username and password.

Then when I clicked the "login" link, I got the same error:

Warning: require_once() [function.require-once]: Unable to access /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson2001.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/chicago/_adminUI.class.php in /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson2001.com/public_html/blogs/admin.php on line 163

Warning: require_once(/home/jhudson2/domains/hudson2001.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/chicago/_adminUI.class.php) [function.require-once]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson2001.com/public_html/blogs/admin.php on line 163

Fatal error: require_once() [function.require]: Failed opening required '/home/jhudson2/domains/hudson2001.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/chicago/_adminUI.class.php' (include_path='.:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/jhudson2/domains/hudson2001.com/public_html/blogs/admin.php on line 163

If I just go directly to [url=http://www.hudson2001.com/blogs/]my blog[/url] I can see everything - but if I try to click on any of the admin links, I get the same exact error.

I did, however, see something I didn't see before (it was there, I just didn't scroll down):

Base config recap...

If you don't see correct settings here, STOP before going any further, and update your base configuration.

MySQL Username: jhudson2_hudson
MySQL Password: (Set, but not shown for security reasons)
MySQL Database: jhudson2_b2evolution
MySQL Host: localhost
MySQL tables prefix: evo_

Base URL: http://www.hudson2001.com/blogs/

Admin email: blogmaster@hudson2001.com

I am assuming these are the EXACT settings I had before, and there is NO reason for the username or database name to have changed. So, is there somewhere in a file I might have to change these? Like I said, it was YEARS ago when I first installed this and haven't touched it since, so anything is possible. I have emailed my host to ask just in case.

If you're game for it, PM me with all the credentials you have for accessing your webspace. Like, your "cpanel" or whatever your host provides and an FTP account (but not some crippled limited "you can get to one stupid little folder" account) and just for kicks your admin login password even though it won't get me one step further than it gets you.

Something is weird here and I'll show you what I'm seeing that I think is weird. The error line:

/home/jhudson2/domains/hudson2001.com/public_html/blogs/skins_adm/chicago/_adminUI.class.php

doesn't make sense. Strip off the file name and admin skin name and the admin skin folder and you have

/home/jhudson2/domains/hudson2001.com/public_html/blogs/

I'll guess your $baseurl is set to hudson2001.com/blogs/, so what the heck the "public_html" bit doing INSIDE your $baseurl? No wonder it can't find that file eh? Paranoicpurple in the other thread doesn't seem to have that exact version of "visually impossible" but that doesn't mean it is not corrupted in some way. Unfortunately the FTP account is a tiny little POS that lets me in to the installation path only, which is why I ask you for "the full monty" version.

By the way I have a stupid HTML test that just won't write itself to take care of as well so I may not find resolution on these issues today.

No problem! I appreciate EVERYTHING!

Holy Crap I ROCK. Young girls and farm animals swoon at the very mention of my name - I am *that* good.

hudson2001 your back office is operational.

Here's what I did, and what I want to try on paranoicpurple's domain: I re-installed the entire skins_adm folder. Literally, deleted yours and uploaded from my desktop. I did not change any of your passwords or logins or files, although briefly I was messing with some of your conf folder files. All are restored to exactly what they were.

Just a bit of wrapup I wanted to cover before I forget...

Different FTP programs and different host tools (including auto-installers of stuff) will produce different date stamps on the uploaded files. Sometimes the date will be "right now" and sometimes the date will be the file creation date. Even file creation date can be different because sometimes it can be "date unzipped" and sometimes it can be "date of file inside the zip package".

Here's a strange but true example: when I use WinMerge to compare files if I tell it "copy from right to left" at the directory level then the left side gets the exact same time stamp as the right side. If I open that file and then tell it to copy right to left and save it then the left side gets "right now". So even within one program I can get different date stamps on the same file with what 'sounds like' the same activity.

Okay so here is why I'm re-replying: sometimes FTP clients and host tools might or might not over-write an existing file if the existing file is newer than the one you're trying to upload. I told my FTP client (FileZilla) to do exactly that so I can "upload" an entire folder knowing that it will only actually upload the one file I changed. I also told FileZilla to make the datestamp on the server match the datestamp on my computer because I can...

Anyway long story short: "upload this or that" REALLY means (a) download the package you want to upload again (b) unzip it on your computer (c) delete the files from your server that you want to replace and (d) upload the files from the fresh unzip you just made. IF you go through that and are not successful then you have to ask yourself "did I download from a different mirror (meaning source of the actual zip package) and "did I use the same unzip tool as last time" and "did I upload using the same FTP program or host-provided method" because any of those details could be where a file corruption comes in. IF file corruption is the problem. In this case I suspect it was because all I did was replace the skins_adm folder and the admin.php page started working.

It is slow and cumbersome and often needs multiple folders on your desktop and possibly learning new tools to do something with, but when you need to replace a "it might be bonked" file you need to know that the file(s) got replaced and somehow know that whatever bonked it is out of the equation.

I will double-post this answer on the other similar thread even though double-posters piss me off.

Especially the farm animals huh? :roll:

¥

WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY! YOU TOTALLY ROCK!

You know, I even looked at the time/date stamps to make sure everything uploaded and overwrote recently... And I also tried uploading (overwriting) from home and work (although it was the same browser-Firefox-and same FTP program-FireFTP)...

But I can see how things could get mucked up.

Now I just have to deal with uploading and installing plugins, to get my backoffice to look like it used to! (Or better, as I am assuming there are TONS of new things to play around with!)

@hudson2001
I know I wouldn't rely on a browser extension like FireFTP for uploading.
It works but it's far from robust.

Get a good standalone FTP application. It can help prevent hours of frustration.

John wrote:

@hudson2001
I know I wouldn't rely on a browser extension like FireFTP for uploading.
It works but it's far from robust.

Get a good standalone FTP application. It can help prevent hours of frustration.

Well, to be fair, this is the first time ever I've had issues. But it is a lesson to also have a secondary FTP client just in case things aren't working.

I know there are a ton out there - what do you recommend? I have used SmartFTP in the past, but it seems like it was always upgrading and I had to upload a new version every month, which got annoying.

FileZilla. 9 out of 10 farm animals say "I'd rather be transferring files with FileZilla".

I have to say that any FTP programe that is regularly upgrading is a very good sign.
I used Smart FTP on the Win Box and was very happy with it.

Ironically, I am trying to upgrade from 2.4.5 to 2.4.6 (using Filezilla!) and apparently it's not working since my dashboard is still telling me to upgrade.

:(

hudson2001 wrote:

Ironically, I am trying to upgrade from 2.4.5 to 2.4.6 (using Filezilla!) and apparently it's not working since my dashboard is still telling me to upgrade.

:(

It'll do that till it bothers to update itself. The footer info in admin is accurate. If it says 246 then you're in like Flynn.

I didn't know it took some time to propagate... I don't remember that being like that before. But I just checked and it's all good now.

I thought I was losing my mind!!